Recently I was distressed to find Diva and Corazon, my two mares at Silver Horse Ranch, engaged in a violent battle. They screamed and kicked at each other relentlessly. Neither horse showed signs of backing down.

Not wanting the horses to be injured, I broke them apart, and each dispersed to other areas of the corral.

I hoped this battle would be a onetime occurrence. Up until now, Corazon and Diva had been inseparable since Corazon was integrated into this herd at the ranch nine months ago. Alas, the following day, they continued where they left off, screaming and kicking at each other with no sign of resolution. Again I broke them up, knowing this was a temporary fix.

Later that day, I noticed Corazon standing alone. Diva was hanging with Jackie and Ruby, all three mares huddled together in the corner of the corral, not giving Corazon the option of joining them. My own childhood memories surfaced of being excluded from the gang of other girls, ostracized for being different. It broke my heart to see Corazon alone. Born and raised in the wild, Corazon was indeed different from the others.

At the same time these incidents were happening at my ranch, I was preparing to teach an overseas online student how to facilitate a soul retrieval. I needed a recipient, and I decided Corazon would make a great case study.

A soul retrieval is the act of bringing back the parts of the person’s soul that have been denied, negated or lost from the person, often due to a traumatic event. I often include soul retrieval work during a Systemic Constellations session, which looks at what is missing or excluded from the system. A soul retrieval can be done remotely within the format of an inner shamanic journey, and it was in this way I was going to teach my student.

What follows is the transcript of the journey I did for Corazon, which involved going to the “upper world,” where I met my spiritual teacher who helped me in my healing quest for Corazon.

The healing quest

We’re in the upper world and it’s sunny. It looks like it was raining. It feels familiar, like I'm going home. There are colored leaves on the ground, and little cottages scattered along this small street. I notice there are no cars.

I see my teacher waiting for us at his garden gate, and he takes my hand in his. His hand is warm and he’s happy to see me, and I‘m happy to see him. I introduce him to my helpers who are with me.

He’s leading us to a garden in the back; it’s very private. We’re sitting at the table now. He has a cup of tea for me, and it’s all very nice.

I tell him why I came.

‘I’m here to retrieve the parts of the soul for Corazon, my mare, to help her with what she's going through right now. She’s being excluded from the herd, violently, it’s horrible.”

He looks at me, and I feel an energetic exchange through our eyes.

He’s showing me – he’s showing me her as a foal – and she’s terrified, she’s running and running and she's by herself, and her eyes are huge. She’s probably four months old, she’s been separated from her family, her mother her siblings – her band – and there’s a helicopter hovering above.

It’s very loud. I feel tightness in my throat. She’s in shock, literally frozen in her tracks. She doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. She never sees her mother and siblings again, and she's being pushed into a corral. She’s giving up, and this is when her soul leaves – I call on her ancestors: her mother, father, uncles, aunts, grandparents, her herd. I call on them to support her so she knows she came from somewhere, a strong lineage of horses who've survived through hundreds of years, on their own.

They surround her. She’s in the middle of a circle of her ancestors – hundreds and hundreds of horses. I hear their gentle nickers and deep sighs. They’re sending her love and sending her the memory of where she comes from.

She’s feeling safe, her eyes soften. She lays down in a sitting position. They tell Corazon: you will hear us coming through the vibrations of the earth and you can connect to us in this way. They are giving Corazon a tool, a way in which she can connect to them and call on them because the earth is like a drum and holds the memory.

Now she’s getting softer and warmer in her body, and her ancestors are forming a protective ring of light around her. The healing is happening for her. From their hearts they’re sending out a thread of light, hundreds and hundreds of horses sending light from their hearts to hers. She takes it in. Her eyes close. This is good – she’s getting what she needs. My teacher is telling me to let it play out. I thank my teacher for helping Corazon.

Afterwards

After the soul retrieval session, I go outside to see Corazon. She is happy to see me, and she allows me to blow into her body the missing parts of her soul held in a quartz crystal.

Since this journey for Corazon there has been a noticeable shift within the herd. Corazon and Diva are again best friends. With Corazon accepting her place in the herd, equilibrium has been restored.